Saturday, August 29, 2009

OK, I am actually back... after a successful PhD defense!! I'm not gonna lie, it was probably the hardest day of my life, but in the end, I heard the words "pass", so I am a happy girl. I would have LOVED for it to go more smoothly, and I have spent a few days feeling sorry for myself, and mourning the loss of those 2 hours that I had envisioned being confident, strong, and impressive, and am now coming to terms with the fact that they simply were not my best hours, but it's ok... I passed, and life goes on. Thank-you all for your kind words of support, it really did mean a lot!!

OK, I am actually back... as a bride 8 days away from getting married?!?! WHAT?? I know I know, catch your breath, relax, and hold on for the ride!! I can't believe the wedding is almost here, and I have been so MIA with you guys I barely know where to start?? We leave for Fernie on Thursday next week, so I have a mere 6 days left to get everything ready... the only problem is, I don't know what to do?! The defense took EVERYTHING out of me, and I am finding it difficult to convince myself to get up and get productive. On top of that all, the PhD was definitely a stress on the important relationship... with me and my man... but I know in the end it will make us stronger. The only unfortunate thing, is it coincides with the inherent stress of wedding planning (time, money, emotions, energy... the works!). So, we are going to try to spend some time today on us, just good ol' fashioned fun time together putzing away in the garage (yes, on wedding DIY stuff, but still, it will be fun!), and trying to bounce back from the last couple of months where it has admittedly been all about me, with very little attention paid to him. I know we will get through it, and in 11 short days, we will be drinking wine together in France, as husband and wife... yes, we can get through this!!

BUT, because I have been so negligent here for a long time, I will share some goodies with you... nothing will be in order, all is random (like the thousands of thoughts swirling around in my head right now... someone to deliver bouts.... Cajun appetizers?!.... remember to bring steamer.... did I ask P to bring Cranium or did I just think about asking.... get licence renewed... YOU GET THE POINT RIGHT!!).

Today though, let's talk about the rehearsal dinner... otherwise known as the welcome BBQ! We have decided to throw a casual lunch at the wedding lodge, to which all of our guests are invited! And yes, a LOT of them are coming... 90 to be exact! So, my mom and step-dad, famous for their steaks, are bringing 90 AAA Alberta (the best!) beef tenderloin steaks from their butcher, and grilling them up with some homemade baked beans, and my grandmas buns... with a little Caesar salad thrown in for some greenery! Most of the food has already been cooked and frozen, which should make the process pretty simple. We aren't afraid of the big parties (we have a cabin where we regularly have 30-40 people over for steak!), but this is definitely one of the biggest ones we have done!! What does this have to do with DIY... well, this isn't all that creative, and definitely not challenging or even original for that matter, but, it is still worth sharing (I hope you agree!):

UTENSILS: you might remember this post about Ecoware utensils, so you've maybe already seen these before, but here are a few more details...

I bought green and white IKEA napkins (super affordable, nice and big, and pretty thick and soft!). I bought 100 white and 100 green, which I believe came to something like $12 or $15. We are also using the utensils for the day-after-brunch, but yes, we will definitely have MORE than enough!

Rolling utensils is not too exciting, but for those of you without waitressing experience (I have rolled quite a few 'roll-ups' in my day!), I thought I would show you the process:

You definitely want to leave some of the utensil showing (I think they are adorable!)

Because our napkins were pretty big, and I was a bit anal about how the final product looked, I folded the corners of the napkins in, to ensure a straight edge at the end:

To secure the roll-ups, I used some of that homemade paper (in purple) that feels like fabric. This paper ended up being awesome. Because of the texture, it rolled really easily, and laid smooth (sometimes a normal paper will get creased/crunchy, and in my opinion, doesn't look as clean as these turned out). The lady from the paper store that I bought it from told me definitely don't use a glue stick... she suggested double sided tape. BUT, double sided tape just got caught up in the fibres of the paper, while the glue stick worked really well! (Just a note about the paper, I bought one sheet for $5, and cut it into strips ~1" wide, and maybe 3" long... I did 200 roll-ups with it, and still have some left over!!)

The finished product front and back. You can notice the nice straight edge on the back (and I made sure the folds were such that the edge would land on the back and not the front of the roll-up... I told you I was anal!)

The stack getting bigger:

Kinda cute right? But wait, since we're on the topic of welcome BBQ, I thought I would share with you the outfit... and I am just gonna put it out there... I think I almost like this dress more than my wedding dress... yup, I said it! I LOVE this dress... it is just so unique and fun that I want to where it at every possible opportunity. I will likely be overdressed for the party, but heh, it's my party right?! And I'll over-dress if I want to ;) So without further adieu... The first 2 pics are taken in the dressing room at BCBG when I was trying to convince myself that since it was waaaayyyyy over budget, I would take pictures of it just so I could think about how it felt, but that there was no way I could afford it!!

The super cute embellishment:

And even though it TOTALLY broke the bank... I bought it!! And, I have already worn it to one wedding (check out me with my man back in July...)

Whew... first post in a while... sorry it was so random!! How are y'all doing?! I've missed you!!

Woo-hoo!!! Congrats, Dr. Bride! As a recent survivor of that trial-by-fire known as the dissertation, you have all of my admiration for getting married so soon afterward! It is, indeed, hard to get much done after clearing such a big hurdle.